Encore
by yikkety
Summary: Post Finale-if you haven't finished the books I encourage you to before reading as this will contain spoilers. Nora, Patch, Vee and Blythe learn to adjust to their new lives post battle.
1. Chapter 1

**I know I am opening myself up to a whole new fandom here, but I actually started writing this story last spring, before my Gilmore Girls story and since it is starting to slow down, I thought I would publish the beginning of this one. I don't know how quick the updates will be, since I have a full time job 2 small children a husband and another story I am committed to finishing, but I hope this is well received.**

Patch continued to carry me after we left the cemetery. I realized neither one of us had driven; I had ridden with Scott and Vee. Patch had been on what used to be his motorcycle before he was cast into Hell. "You can put me down if you want," I said with my head still buried in his shoulder.

_Not a chance, Angel, _he whispered into my mind, _I can feel you for the first time and I want to touch you as much as possible._

I could feel myself blushing as I thought about touching Patch. My mind began to wander to thoughts about what our life would be like now. We could be seen together again, now that I didn't have an army of angry Nephilim watching my every move, waiting for a reason to remove me from power, thereby failing my oath.

Patch and I had made an oath as well to love each other eternally, during his vows Patch had said he wanted to fall asleep next to me every night and wake up with me every morning. That thought made me smile as I drifted off to sleep in Patch's arms. Though I knew I would have to revisit it in a less pleasant conversation, eventually, with my mother.

I woke up suddenly, with the realization that Patch was no longer carrying me. In fact Patch was nowhere around. I heard an impatient knocking on a door. I got my bearings and realized I was in Patch's bed at the townhouse. I found the clock on the bedside table and realized four hours had passed since I went into battle, and it was now late morning. The sound of voices drifted back to the bedroom. There were three of them, two females and one male, I recognized all of them. The frantic and sad sounding voice of my best friend, Vee, hit me first. Then the angry, panicked tones of my mother, and the soft reassuring voice of an angel. "Calm down, Blythe, Nora is here, she's just sleeping." Patch tried to reassure her.

"I want to see her now," my mother spat at him, "you can't keep her from me, she is still a child."

At that I got up and headed to the living room, I was going to have to face my next battle sooner than I had hoped. "Mom, I'm fine, but we need to talk."

"You bet we need to talk, you don't come home last night, and you're not answering your phone. I finally get ahold of Vee and she is crying and ranting about a duel and fallen Angels and people dying. Then I get here and you come out of his bedroom half naked!"

Not knowing what she meant, I looked down and saw my bare legs poking out of the bottom of one of Patch's black t-shirts. His thoughts entered my mind as I started to blush, _I didn't figure you wanted to sleep in your dirty, ripped clothes._

_Thanks,_ I thought back at him as I realized my bra and underpants were still on.

"Well, would you like to explain yourself young lady?'"

"It's a really long story, Mom, and I haven't really slept in four days. I just want to go back to bed," I half whined.

"You can start explaining on the drive home, if I'm satisfied with what I hear you can go to bed and we will discuss your punishment when you wake up."

"No," I choked out, "I can't leave Patch!"

My mom opened her mouth, I'm sure to I'm sure give me more of her opinion of Patch, but was cut off by an oddly quiet and sullen Vee, " I think you should hear her out Mrs. Grey, there's a lot going on that you don't understand."

Wow, I thought , a few short weeks ago Vee would have been just as angry and confused as my mother currently was, but here she was coming to my defense "But the first thing I need to know is…" Vee trailed off. But I knew what she wanted and it was the one thing I never wanted to tell her.

"He's gone Vee, Scott died." The sobs started racking my body as the tears started to pour down my face. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Vee, it's my fault, it's all my fault, if I could have just," Patch had me pressed to his body and his arms wrapped around me before I could finish.

_It's not your fault, Angel, it's Dante's, none of this is your fault._

"But he died trying to save me," I blurted not realizing that both my mom and Vee were waiting for me to finish. Vee just started crying harder and leaned in to my mom for support.

"But you won, they all died, I was there, I saw it! And how is he here, I thought they were all gone? You were crying about him being gone and not wanting to go on without him and he's standing here and Scott isn't and I want to know why." I eyed my mom curiously trying to decide if she was still angry or just confused.

"P-Patch possessed Rixon to get out of Hell," I managed to say.

"Wait, Rixon? The guy who shot you?" My mom interjected. "What does he have to do with Scott's death, and Patch?" The questions began to fall out of my mother's mouth before I had a chance to process them all. "Possessed? Hell? What have you gotten my daughter into?" she shot at Patch. Vee was staring at me, my mom glared a Patch. Both of them wanted answers and I was the one who had to give them to them.

"I guess I should start with the basics for my mom," I looked at Vee, "then get to the questions about this morning." Vee nodded as I moved to the couch, careful to keep Patch's hand in mine the whole time. I needed his strength to get through this. I wanted him to talk, but I knew he knew this was my story to tell.

_I'm right here, Angel_. I heard as he squeezed my hand tightly.

"I'm Nephilm, Mom, and so are Vee, and Scott and Hank."

"Neph-what? What does this have to do with Hank? And Patch is he this Nephily thing too?"

"No, Mom, Patch is a Fallen Angel. A Nephilim is the offspring of a human and a Fallen Angel."

"So how are you one, you just said Hank was Neph- Nep-"

"Nephilim, Mom, he gave me a blood transfusion, it was why he set up the car accident and pushed you down the stairs. He had a plan, for me to lead his army. So Patch didn't involve me in anything, your choices caused this. And just in case your mind hasn't cleared out from the mind tricking he was doing to you yet, you should also know that Hank is the one that was responsible for my kidnapping." I said with an edge of anger to my voice. All these years she had claimed to be in love with my father and I found out that she was only with him because Hank asked his best friend to take care of his mistress and their baby while he went back to his wife and her baby, my _half-sister_, Marcie.

"He did what? What army? Please, Nora what is going on?" She completely ignored the part about some of this being caused be her.

I just began to talk, the words coming out like vomit before I could stop them. I told my mother about all the things I had been keeping from her all these months. She listened intently, the expression on her face changing as I went through the parts about Patch and Rixon both wanting me as a sacrifice. The torment I faced from Chauncey and Dabria; My Dad's murder and Scott's roll in it. When I got to the part about Hank, she cried. I told her that Hank's intention that night at Delphic was to kill me as retribution for Chauncey and that Patch had agreed to spy for him if he spared my life; and how Patch had traded his wings for my release. I knew that a lot of this was news to Vee too, but she just sat on the floor with her face on her knees and her arms wrapped around her shins, sobbing every once in a while and crying softly. I hoped she was listening, because I didn't know how much Scott had told her and I didn't want to repeat it later. When I finally got to the events of today Vee looked up, her eyes red and puffy and ringed with tears. "Dante had me pinned down and without my sword," I recanted, "that's when Scott showed up and started to fight him, Scott was doing really well and I thought he would be able to take him down and I could get the Devil Craft enhanced sword away from Dante and kill him with it, but then Scott slipped on the wet grass." The next part came out of me almost robotically, I was too tired and emotionally drained to stop and think now, "Dante had him down then he stabbed him through the heart and twisted the sword. I wanted to scream and run to Scott, but I knew I couldn't. I had to kill Dante, not just because of the Devil Craft but also for Scott. I had to somehow get the sword away from him. But he tackled me and started to choke me. I thought it was all over and that I had failed. Just as I was about to pass out, the ceramic angel behind Dante caught my eye. It called out to me in Patch's voice telling me to possess him and kill him. So when I got inside of his body, I fell on the sword. I was thrown from Dante's body as he and all the other Fallen Angels who had sworn an oath to him started to deteriorate."

My mom's eyes were teary now. I was glad to be almost done with the story. I continued on with my interaction with Detective Basso and about finding Patch. I stopped suddenly when I got to the part about our oath, "ummm," I bit my lip and looked at Patch.

_What should I tell them about us?_

_ Whatever you want, but I would be honest, one of them will find out eventually._

"Nora, what's going on, you stopped in the middle of a sentence?"

Mom, Patch and I, we are, well it's-"

_You can do this, I'm right here, Angel, and I am not going anywhere._

I continued, "Patch and I swore an oath to each other, and sealed it with our blood. We promised to love each other _**forever.**_" Everything inside of me tightened as the understanding of what I had just said hit my mom.

"Nora Grey, you are seventeen years old. I don't care what happened to you or what you think you feel, you are too young to be making life long commitments to some boy you have only known for a few months. What do you think I am just going to let you get married and move in here? You must have lost your mind!"

"Mom, I love Patch, I don't feel safe if he isn't close to me. I can't be separated from him," I pleaded. Vee just stared at us. I wasn't sure if she was in shock or not understanding what was happening.

"I won't allow it, I can keep you from her," her words were directed at Patch now; "I'll call the police and have you arres-"I cut her off.

"Mom! Stop, you can't change this. We swore a _**blood **_oath, under _**Heaven**_, I'm pretty sure the Coldwater police department can't do anything about it." She just gaped at me, unsure of how to respond. Patch jumped in to ease the tension.

"Why don't you go home with her," I opened my mouth to protest but Patch was faster than me, softly placing his fingertips on my lips, "you need some rest, and she needs time to process all of this. Just go, I'll come over tomorrow and the three of us can talk. I'll take Vee home, if that's okay" he looked at her and she just shrugged. Patch pulled me up and kissed my mouth lightly as his thoughts invaded my mind.

_I'll be there when you go to bed, just leave your window unlocked. You know I am not going to let her keep us apart._


	2. Chapter 2

I know I have a few people reading this story but this is especially for nononononononono , who gave me my first and only review on this story.

Chapter 2

The drive home was silent. I struggled to keep my eyes open as we made our way back to the farmhouse. When we got to the door my mom quietly said, "You go upstairs to bed, we'll talk when you wake up." Her voice wasn't caring or concerned, it was cold and angry. I nodded as I forced myself up the stairs. I didn't even have the energy to pull down the covers as I fell into bed.

When I woke up my room was near dark. I was aware of Patch's arms around me. I looked over at him, his eyes were closed and his mouth was tipped into a slight smile. As I leaned in and kissed his cheek softly I whispered, "What are you smiling about?"

His smile got bigger but his eyes stayed closed, "enjoying my gift." He opened his eyes and stared at me. The intense black had softened and I saw happiness and gratitude and a little hint of amazement. "Your hair is so soft," he murmured as he kissed the top of my head. I crushed my lips into his with a ferocity I didn't know I had. I rolled over, careful not to remove myself from his embrace and looked at my alarm clock, 7:15, I had been asleep for more than 8 hours and though I was no longer exhausted, I was still a little tired and sore. I hadn't noticed the soreness earlier, my stab had already healed mostly, due to my advanced Nephilim healing, but there was still a small scar and a dull ache to remind me of what I had been through a little more than twelve hours ago.

"Ugh." Patch cocked an eyebrow at the sound of my groan. "We have to get up. I have to go talk to my mom. Hopefully I'll be able to calm her down before you come over in the morning." Patch kissed me long and passionately before crawling out of my bed and making his way to the window. "Call me when you head back up here. I'm not letting you sleep without me tonight. Or ever." He winked as he jumped out the window. I didn't even make it to the bottom of the stairs before I saw him again. He was standing with my mom, neither of them looked happy, by the front door.

"Don't try to play games with me," she said sternly, before I could even open my mouth. "I went up to your room a few hours ago to check on you. I could have woken you up then and yelled, but I am trying to be understanding." Her face let me know that on the inside her rage was exploding.

I blushed and looked sheepishly at my mother, "Sorry, I guess we can add it to our family meeting."

She nodded. "Are you two hungry, I ordered pizza, it should be here any minute." With her question I realized how long it had been since I had eaten. Between the Devilcraft withdraw and everything else that had gone on in the last few days, I hadn't eaten much and I was starving.

I nodded, "pizza sounds awesome, Mom, thanks." The pizza arrived a few minutes later and we all sat down at the table. My mom had gotten paper plates and napkins out, while we waited. She also got some glasses out, for the soda that came with the pizza. "First things first," she said. "No more sneaking into Nora's room, in the middle of the night. Or any time of day for that matter."

I looked down at my feet. Patch said "Yes, Ma'am, I understand."

As the shame started to ebb away, I noticed my mother gazing at my left hand; the right one was in Patch's lap tightly holding on to one of his. "So the ring? Part of the oath…?" She asked.

I was grateful that Patch took control of the conversation now, "Yes, I've had it for a long time; it reminded me of how unhappy and endless my punishment was. But Nora has changed me, she has made me a better man," he stared intently at my mom. "She ended my suffering, she gave me the one thing I have always wanted, to be able to feel, but also so much more. I wanted her to have it to remind her how happy she makes me." I rested my head on his shoulder and he softly kissed it. I could see my mom change her demeanor, however slightly, as she realized how much the two of us meant to each other. I think Patch noticed too, because he added, "I have literally been to Hell and back for your daughter." I would have laughed had it not brought back such terrible memories, "and I would do it again." Panic started to creep into me at the thought of that and Patch wrapped his arm around me and murmured, "Don't worry, Angel, I have no intention of letting that happen."

We sat for a few minutes in silence and ate before my mom spoke up, "Well I am not going to sit here and pretend like I am okay with everything that is going on. I feel like if I fight this I would lose you, Nora, and I don't want to lose you." I could see the pain on her face. "So we are going to have to start being open and honest with each other if we are going to make this work."

"I don't want to lose you either, Mom, or upset you. I want you and Patch to be able to get along. He is part of my life and always will be, just like you." I decided to use my feelings about her to soften what I was about to say. "I want to move in with Patch."

"I don't think that is going to happen." My mom just glared at us.

The tears welled up in my eyes at the thought of spending even one night without Patch. "But I don't feel safe here," then I quickly added, "without him."

"Nora you are in the middle of your junior year of high school. I am not going to let you just move in with your boyfriend and hang out in pool halls all day."

"Nobody said I was going to do that. I have every intention of continuing to excel at school and go to college!"

Patch spoke for the first time in what seemed like hours. "Blythe, I would make sure Nora was up and at school every day. I'll even check and make sure she is doing all her homework." He added with a chuckle, "not that she would need it."

"I'm still not convinced that letting my 17 year old daughter move in with you is a good idea."

"Think about it," I had come up with a plan. I knew she missed her job and getting it back may just be the push she needed to give in, "if I'm with Patch you get to go back to doing all the traveling auctions you love and not have to worry about me."

She made a noise between amusement and disgust as she said, "right, no need to worry about leaving my teenage daughter alone with a boy for days at a time. Nothing could possibly happen, right?"

"Mom," I said testily, as I shot her an annoyed glance, "really?! You think I am suddenly going to forget everything I know about …err… safety? Please!"

"Maybe we could compromise," Patch started, "Blythe you and I could come to some sort of an agreement about when she gets to stay with me."

"What am I, property?"

_Angel, calm down and trust me. If we push too hard she is just going to get angry. Then she may lock you in your room forever._ He smiled at the end of the thought and it made me smile.

"What did you have in mind?" my mom questioned tersely.

"Sunday through Wednesday, we'll stay here, in Nora's room. Thursday, Friday and Saturday we'll stay at my townhouse."

"And school?" My mom asked.

"I'll make sure she goes, I'll drive her and pick her up. I'll pack her a lunch every day." He smirked at the annoyed look on my face, knowing I felt like I was being treated like a small child. I didn't say anything though; my mom seemed to be somewhat receptive to what he was saying.

"You sleep down here on the couch when you are here, I know what you'll be doing when you aren't here but I can keep you from doing it in my house. If Nora's grades suffer at ALL this will end and you," she pointed at Patch, "will go away."

I started to protest, I didn't want to sleep without Patch, I didn't even know if I could anymore, but Patch just looked at me as his thoughts entered my mind. _ It's better than nothing, at least I'll be here if you need me and I won't have to worry about what may be happening to you._

My mom's cell phone ringing broke up our little meeting. Her face took on a stricken look as she looked at the caller ID, it must have been Mrs. Parnell because she said, "How am I going to tell her…about Scott?"

**I thought about having patch burn his tongue on the pizza but decided that after his little speech it had sat long enough that it would be cool enough to eat. Maybe next time, I intend on having patch discover what it's like to feel in lots of fun ways in this story.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I own nothing.**

**Good news my loyal followers(all 5 of you) I made progress on this story. This was the last chapter i had written, but inspiration hit and I have finished most of Chapter 4, so you can look forward to another chapter next Monday. Yay!**

I don't know whether I fainted or just blocked out the conversation my mom had with Lynn Parnell, but I woke up in my bed. Patch was sitting next to me playfully running his fingers through my hair. _What's wrong, Angel?_ My face must have shown my confusion. I was thankful for my ability to mind speak, because my mouth was dry and my throat felt closed off.

_What happened? My mom was answering the phone, and then…I was here._

_I helped your mom with the phone call…_

_By helped, do you mean mind tricked?_

_No, I spoke to her thoughts; she was confused at first but thanked me when it was over. She is going to help plan the funeral. The police convinced Lynn that the people Scott was running from must have been the ones to kill him. Blythe convinced her that he was just trying to save you from them, not a lie really._

"Okay," I choked out. That answered the question of the phone call, some of it sounded vaguely familiar, but why didn't I remember? Patch filled me in before I had a chance to ask?

_As for you, Angel, you started to get pretty hysterical so I mind tricked you into falling asleep. I know you don't like when I tamper with your mind, but I couldn't stand seeing you so upset. I'm sorry. _He kissed my cheek bone and pulled me closer. It was dark in my room and I couldn't see his face, but I could imagine the way his black eyes would soften with his pleading for forgiveness. Instead of answering I leaned up and kissed his lips. I felt his whole body loosen with the realization that I wasn't going to hold it against him. I didn't like him messing with my mind, true, but I knew he wanted what was best for me.

"Go back to sleep," he whispered in my ear, "Your mom is letting you stay home the rest of the week. I'll be right downstairs tonight. You know how to find me if you need me." He winked as he extracted himself from my bed.

As much as I didn't want Patch to leave, I was extremely tired and had fallen back to sleep in almost no time. I don't remember any dreams, but that also meant I had no nightmares. The sun coming in through my window forced me to face the day ahead of me and I headed downstairs to find Patch; the anchor I needed to keep me from drifting into the sadness I knew that both Vee and Lynn were sure to try to pull me into. I hadn't even rounded the corner at the bottom of the stairs before he was by my side, taking my hand and entwining our fingers.

"I made breakfast; Lynn and Vee are both coming over to work everything out." He added, _I think you should be with them and I will try to stay out of the way._

Blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall I breathed, "please stay. I don't think I can do this without you." His eyes hardened with a look I was now familiar with; protectiveness.

_I would never leave you, Angel, please don't think I would ever make you do this alone. I'll just be in a different room, I'm pretty sure I am not high on the list of people Vee wants to see right now._

He sat me down in a kitchen chair as I shot him a confused glance. "I don't think she will be as mean to you now that she knows about everything that is going on."

Patch put a plate of food in front of me, "Angel, when I drove her home yesterday we talked. She lost Scott and she is upset and I get that. I think that she resents that I am still here and he isn't, so I think if I stay out of her way this will be easier for her."

"That isn't fair, you didn't do anything to Scott, you didn't support Dante…" I was incredulous.

He cut me off, "It's all right, Angel. She will come around, when it doesn't hurt so much. Think of how you would feel in her place. Scott and I weren't exactly friends."

I relented and began to eat. I wasn't happy about the way Vee was treating him, but I did understand. Patch had not been well liked by Scott, Vee or my mom. But that was before they knew everything. I had hoped my honesty would mean a fresh start. Maybe it still could, like Patch said, she was hurting she would come around. When I heard the knock on the door I begrudgingly walked I not the living room to join my mother in consoling her friend. But it wasn't her friend at the door, it was mine. I pulled Vee into a hug as she fell through the door. The sobs began to overtake her and I started to cry too. "It's okay, Vee, I'm here."

_I just didn't think I would ever lose him,_ her voice wavered even in my mind, _we're immortal, I just don't understand._

_That sword was meant for me, _she pulled away, a confused and scared look covering her tear smeared face. _Dante had it enhanced with Devilcraft before he used it to kill Blakely. He wanted a way to kill me, even though just winning the duel would have been enough to break my vow and kill me. If Scott hadn't stepped in I would be dead. I know it will never bring him back or make up for his death but he saved my life, Vee. If he were standing here I wouldn't be._

She hugged me tighter, it was a sign, she wasn't mad at me. Softly she whispered into my mind, _I think I loved him, Babe, I really think I did._ I just squeezed her hand as we took a seat on the couch.

"Are you hungry?" I asked suddenly remembering Patch had made breakfast; maybe I could bring them together through food. "Patch made breakfast." When she bristled I added, "I can get you a plate if you want." Maybe she wasn't ready yet, but food always made Vee happy. She nodded slowly.

When I walked into the kitchen Patch was holding out an empty plate for me. "It'll be okay, Angel, don't rush it," he said as he moved to kiss my forehead. Once I had filled the plate with bacon, eggs and a cinnamon roll, I carried it back to Vee, to find that Lynn had arrived and was clinging to my mom.

"Nora, why don't you get Lynn something to eat also?" Mrs. Parnell started to protest but was cut off, "you need to eat something, Sweetheart, you are going to need your strength to get through this."

I got the food and sat down next to Vee, cradling her hands in my lap. I tuned out most of what was being said. This was all too familiar, brought back too many memories of my father's death that I didn't want to have. I tried to focus on the sounds coming from the kitchen, plates being scraped and water running. Hearing those sounds and knowing that it meant Patch was nearby made me feel warm and safe. I could get through this with him. I could get through anything as long as he was close.

When all the funeral arrangements were made, it would be Friday morning, Mrs. Parnell left and my mom needed to run some errands to get everything ready. I was left in my house with Vee and Patch. "Do you want to stay and watch a movie or something?" I asked, "I know you probably don't want to be home alone." Vee nodded and curled into the couch. As I got up to pick out a movie Patch came out of the kitchen holding his keys and shrugging into his motorcycle jacket.

"I'll let you girls have some time together." He leaned in and kissed my mouth softly, and quickly, too quickly. I ached to feel the warmth of his mouth on mine for longer. "Call me," he said as he released me and headed for the door.

Vee switched on the TV from the remote as he was leaving. "Sorry," she said bashfully, "I'm just not in the mood to watch you two make goo-goo eyes at each other all day." Some of the old Vee was creeping back into her as she rolled her eyes and gave a sly smile.

I just shrugged and flopped down next to her. "We have forever to make you uncomfortable, what's one afternoon?" That made her smile, though it just looked tragic with her tear streamed make-up running all over her face.

I had chosen _Bridesmaids_, the first movie I found that could in no way lead to crying. I don't think either one of us was really interested in it though. "Have you two…?" Vee sat up and gave me a conspiratorial look as she asked her half question.

"What?"

She cocked her eyebrows and smirked. _Sex, _her voice came into my head and I immediately started to blush. I just shook my head unable to find my voice.

"Wow, really? You two have been pretty hot and heavy for a while. I never thought I would beat you to it."

"Well I've been kinda busy with this whole leading an army thing," then I realized what she had said, "Wait, what?" Had I heard her right? Did she and Scott really do _it_? Now it was Vee who was blushing, a phenomenon I never thought I would see.

"Yeah, it was only once. It was nice, afterward we were lying in my bed cuddled together he told me it was his first time too. He was happy it was with me." Her eyes began to fill with tears and her voice started to waver, "I almost told him I loved him then, but it felt cliché, so I didn't. Now I wish I had."

She was openly crying now and I pulled her close. "I'm sorry, I'm so, so, sorry." I knew it wasn't enough, nothing I could ever say or do would be enough to make up for Scott being gone. I couldn't think of anything else to say though, so I just softly rocked her and kept repeating it until her sobbing stopped and her breathing evened. She had fallen asleep crying against my shoulder. I wiggled my phone from my pocket, careful not to wake her.

I miss u, I texted Patch. The response was almost immediate:

I'm not far Vee gone?

Asleep on my lap :(

Want me to come back

Yes

He didn't send a text confirming that he was on his way, but I knew he was. Patch would come to me whenever I needed him and right now I needed him a lot. I turned off the movie and just stared at the blue screen, not caring about finding anything else to watch. There was too much going on inside my mind to try to focus on TV. I wondered if I would ever have my best friend back. I wondered if we would ever recover from the loss of Scott, from the horrors of the last few days. Would Patch and I ever get to just be together? All these thoughts weighed on my mind, I don't know for how long, until I heard the front door creak open. My mother and Patch walked into the room. They were quiet but I could tell by their faces that they had been talking outside. I couldn't tell whether it had been good or bad and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

_What's going on? _ I demanded. The mindspeak was good, I didn't want to wake Vee or hint to my mom that I thought something was up.

_Everything's fine, Angel. Your mom just wanted to talk to me about something, and she saw me pull up before she came inside. It's no big deal._

I hoped that that was the truth. I didn't want to believe that they were lying to me; especially after everything that had happened lately. Vee started to stir and she slowly sat up. "I should get home; my mom isn't super jazzed about me missing three days of school because my _high school _boyfriend died. The way she said "high school boyfriend" told me she was pretty upset with her mom. She needed me now more than ever. I wished she would let Patch in too, having two people to lean on would be immensely better than just me. "Don't want her thinking we are just hanging out watching movies."

I walked her to the door, "I'm here if you need anything. Anytime of day or night, we'll be there. Just call." She nodded and hugged me again, before walking down the driveway, falling into the Neon and speeding away. Patch's arms wound around my waist from behind. His chin was on my shoulder and his cheek was pressed to mine. "When I said _we_, I meant _you _and me, not my mom. Do you think she knew that?'

He lightly kissed my jaw before heaving a long sigh and answering, "I don't think it matters, she needs you and you'll be there for her, she knows _that._"

"But I need you, I can't do this alone," it sounded more like whining than I wanted. Patch turned me around and leaned his forehead to mine; the fingers on both our hands were intertwined between us.

"I'm not going anywhere, Nora, you're mine, forever. No matter the obstacle. I'll do whatever you need me to do, be wherever you need me to be." I turned my face up to his and kissed him fiercely. I wanted him to know how much I trusted him, loved him, and needed him. I pulled away only when I thought I would faint from lack of oxygen. "She'll come around," Patch said as he ran a hand lazily through my hair. "Your mom has already started to." The pirate smile has started to creep onto his eyes, and he looked down at me, my curiosity piqued by his openness. He was going to tell me about his conversation with my mom. This really was a new stage in our relationship. "She thanked me for making breakfast and staying out of the way, even though she knew I wanted to be by your side. She's starting to trust me."

I smiled, for the first time in what felt like days. "That's a _very _good thing." I smiled and kissed him again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the delay guys, I try to have a new chapter up every Monday and last week I was so sure I was going to get this up on time. Then real life got in the way. My husband got a stomach bug, then I got it and when I got back to work yesterday I learned a students younger brother had died and a friend of mine committed suicide over the weekend. I was 1000 words in but every time I looked at the paper yesterday I had no desire to write. But things are better today and this chapter took a turn that i wasn't expecting, but it is done. I wanted to get it to you as soon as possible so I skipped my final edit, forgive any typos for that reason please. Enjoy**

**A/N There is a trigger warning for a panic attack in this chapter, just FYI**

Chapter 4

I decided that since I was going to miss a week of school, and hadn't been going much over the last month anyway, that I should get caught up on my assignments. Since my mom called and excused me from school for the week they sent her an e-mail with all my work. I was happy to have something to lose myself in for the next couple of days; I didn't want to think about the funeral for a friend that I would have to attend in a day and a half. After about an hour of sitting next to me while I figured out trig equations and started reading Macbeth , Patch kissed my temple and said, "I've gotta run, Angel." The look on my face must have told Patch I wasn't very happy, because he added, "I'll only be gone for a few hours. I'll bring you back dinner."

"Where are you going?" I asked, he had promised he would stay with me when I needed him, why was he leaving now?

"I have a poker game at Bo's."

"Poker, really?"

"What?"

"The whole Fallen Angel race was obliterated less than 48 hours ago and you're going to go play poker?"

"What do you want me to do, Angel; spend weeks mourning for a group of people who were for the most part criminals and miscreants?"

"That's my point though. You're the only one of your kind left, so you don't have to spend your life trying to stay ahead of your enemies anymore. You don't have to make underhanded deals and gamble for a living, you could go legit."

"And what? Run a car dealership?'

That comment angered me; Hank had run a car dealership. "Why would you even bring that up?" It felt like he was intentionally trying to hurt me. "Just go," I said. I was so angry with him right now that I would say or do something stupid if he stayed. He sensed this and turned quietly and left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

As soon as he left I angrily threw my book down and burst into tears. I wasn't sure what emotion I was feeling then. I was angry at Patch, though I couldn't really pinpoint why, beyond the comment about the car dealership. If I was being honest with myself, under different circumstances the thought of Patch as a car salesman would have been funny, slicked back hair, a bad suit and a wicked smile.

I was also sad, so many lives had been lost, not that I was going to miss Dabria or any of the other fallen angels. But Blakely had a family and in the end realized the error of his ways and tried to right the wrongs he had made. And the death that made me the saddest; Scott, he had been my friend, after my initial distrust of him, a confidant and protector in Patch's absence. He even allowed Patch to possess him during the Nephilim conference so that I would feel safe. For a Nephil to willingly allow himself to be possessed was a big deal, he either really trusted Patch, which he didn't, or he really cared about me. It only made me feel worse about his death. As the tears rolled faster down my face for my fallen friend I got up and left my room, realizing that I wouldn't be getting much homework done now.

I made my way downstairs wrestling with another emotion that was trying to take over me, fear of being alone. This was the first time I had been by myself in weeks. Not long before Patch left my mom also left to go talk to Hugo about getting her traveling job back again. We both knew that he would be elated to have her back in that capacity and she would have no problem getting her job back. I had been alone in this house for some time. I had been spending what free time I had at Patch's townhouse, especially while Marcie had been living here. In the last year my memories of this house had changed. Dabria had tried to kill me here, Chauncey had spied on me and Hank had moved in to keep an eye in me. When my mom had brought up the very real possibility of us having to sell the farmhouse last April the idea had horrified me. This is where I grew up, the only place I had ever lived with my dad, I wanted to stay here forever to honor his memories. Now the place could burn to the ground and take all the horrible memories with it, I thought. I would keep the memories of my dad safe in my heart, where no one could touch or change them.

I got myself a glass of water and drank it slowly, trying to calm my racing heart. It helped some, so I got another and sat down at the kitchen island and called mom. The phone rang several times and then went to voice mail. I decided not to leave a message, I didn't have much to say, just wanted to call her and hear her voice. Now that I was sufficiently calmed, I went back upstairs to try and knock out some assignments. I thought about texting Patch, but I wasn't quite ready to apologize to him yet.

Several hours, and a few trips back to the kitchen for snacks, the sky had darkened to evening. Patch must have been doing well at his game, since he hadn't come back yet, so I sent him a text asking him if it would be much longer on the dinner he had promise me. I figured the apology would be better done face to face, since we had both said things we didn't mean. I had called my mom again a couple of hours ago and this time it went straight to voice mail. I was starting to worry as I called her again now and the call once again went straight to voicemail. Before the events of the last few months my mom being MIA probably wouldn't have been cause for concern, in fact it probably would have excited me to have a few extra hours to hang out with Vee and not worry about getting into trouble. But now, my brain immediately started to fill with terrifying images of all the things that could be happening to her. It started to become hard for me to breathe, I had to sit down as the images of my mother being tortured by any number of Fallen Angels or Nephilim who would want to hurt me.

I heard the front door creak open as my breathing turned to hyperventilation and my body shook uncontrollably. My thoughts were no longer coherent; I was convinced someone-_something- _was here to kill me. I began to scream, though I was frozen to the spot, unable to run from my would be attacker. By the time my thoughts and body were under control again, Patch had pulled me fully into his arms and down into the chair I had been sitting in. He was slowly running his hand up and down my arm and making soothing noises. I turned my head to look at him. "You were having a panic attack, you're okay now." He said gently pulling my head back down to the warmth of his chest. Hot tears started to make quick trails down my cheeks and Patch pulled me closer. "Angel, what's going on?"

"I can't," I stumbled through my sobs, "I can't get ahold of my mom. Then I just got really scared that something happened to her, I started to see Hank and Dante and everyone else torturing her to get to me. It just, it just took over and I couldn't move. I just had to watch it happen." The tears were falling faster. "Patch, I was so scared, I was here all by myself and I couldn't help her." I buried my face in his shirt again and openly sobbed.

Patch just held me tighter, planting soft kisses on my ear, cheek, neck, anywhere he could without loosening his grip on me too much. _Angel,_ he spoke to my thoughts, as his mouth stayed busy with comforting kisses, _you're okay, Blythe's okay, Hank and Dante and anyone that has ever tried to hurt you is gone._ My sobs slowed and weakened, my tears dried, as his voice and presence soothed me. "Why don't you let me get you a plate of food, and if you're mom's not home by the time you are done we'll go looking for her, okay?" I nodded slowly as Patch slid out of the chair, leaving me there. I didn't move my eyes from him as he opened boxes and scooped rice and noodles and some sort of chicken onto a plate. He barely had it and a fork over to me before my mom came breezing in form the garage, seemingly oblivious to the tension in the room.

"Oh, good food, I'm starving, this looks…"

I cut her off, "where have you been?"

My mom looked at me, shock and anger etched on her face, "excuse me, young lady?"

"I was trying to call you for hours; your phone was going straight to voicemail."

"It died and I didn't have a charger. Not that I have to explain myself to you."

"You went to go talk with Hugo like 6 hours ago; I thought something had happened to you."

"Hugo and I decided to go have drinks and catch up; I've been so focused on _other_ things lately."

"you know why I had to be secretive, Mom." The volume and tone of my vice had not decreased any since my initial question of my mom. Hers had also become angrier since arriving home.

"Well now you know how it feels then, don't you, Nora? Not being able to get ahold of your daughter, never knowing where she's gone and what new unsavory characters she's fallen in with. Do you know how many times since he's come into your life,' she gestured toward a silent Patch, "that'd I'd have to wonder if I'd ever see you again? Then you were gone for weeks, Nora, no sign as to what happened to you, no clues, I thought," her voice caught and she choked back the tears, "I never thought I would see you again."

"I was kidnapped, Mom, by Hank, my biological father and the man you were sleeping with. I was held captive and tortured by his followers, at his demand. All the while he was here wining and dining you like everything was fine, and you have the audacity to try and pin any of that on Patch, that's rich, Mom, even for you."

I felt the slap before I even felt the movement. "How dare you, Nora, I am your mother and you will not speak to me that way."

I just stared at her, before making my way quickly across the house and out the front door, Patch right on my heels using his key FOB to unlock his truck. As soon as we were in and the trucks engine had turned over I grunted, "Go," through gritted teeth.

"Where?"

"Home."

He looked at me as if to say, "We're in your driveway crazy."

"Our home."

**So after completing this chapter I think I may be leaning toward Nora having PTSD, she has been through some pretty horrific things, but before i go that route I want to know how my fans feel about that. I have a panic disorder and can write about a panic disorder in my sleep, but if you all think its OOC or don't want it let me know.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I had intended this chapter to be cutesy fluff between Patch and Nora after the angst of the last chapter, but that didn't really happen once I started writing, maybe next chapter. I also need to thank 88 for allowing me to use her idea for Patch's job (I'll get there eventually) form her story Eternal. I suggest you read it, it gives you a whole new perspective on Patch.  
**

We were laying side by side in Patch's bed, our feet tangled together on top of the blankets, in the low light from the lamp. Patch was playing with my hair letting me quietly calm down.

The ride over had been tension filled and quiet. I stared out the window, my anger slowly dissipating along with the pain in my cheek. Patch stayed quiet, concentrating, or at least pretending to, on the road. I knew he wanted to talk to me; help me calm down, but knew I needed to be the one to break the ice. So we just sat in the car, with only the sounds outside to listen to. After we pulled into the garage he followed my slow ascent up the stairs and in to the house, careful not to do anything that might upset me but also giving me the closeness that I needed. I went immediately to the bedroom, removed my shoes and slumped down onto the bed, patch did the same.

He we are a half hour later, neither of us having said a word the whole time. Patch finally let out a heavy sigh, "She's right you know." I leaned up on my elbow and looked down at him incredulous, "if you never would have met me you wouldn't have killed Chauncey, which is what made hank want you dead."

"So, that doesn't give her a right to blame you."

"She didn't blame me, she just pointed out that since we met, you've been harder to get ahold od, which is true. I understand that you had your reasons for hiding things from her, I even told you it was best while Hank was living there. It was the best way to keep her safe and sane."

"So why can't she understand that?"

"Angel, when you were gone all those weeks, she was out of her mind with worry, having Hank messing with it probably didn't help. You're her baby and all she has left, and she had no idea where you were or if you were even alive, it was awful, I think she is still a little traumatized by it.'

I had sat up and crossed my legs under myself on the bed while Patch talked. I hadn't really thought about how my mom felt. I had only had the anger at her for allowing the man who kidnapped me into our house; her bed-my dad's bed. But now, I had to think about how much of what was going on with Hank was really her choosing, and how much was him controlling her mind.

Patch rubbed his thumb in circles on my knee, and sat up, leaning against the headboard. He took my hand in his, "Angel, I knew that you were alive, that as long as he hadn't turned to dust, you were still breathing. But not knowing where you were, or being able to get you out, was destroying me. I wanted to rip his throat out, watch him heal and then do it all over again for everyday he kept you away from me."

I squeezed his hand, "I'm starting to remember more and more about what happened while he had me, most of the time it happens while I'm asleep, the images come during dreams, except that when I wake up, I know it wasn't a dream, it was part of the memories that hank tried to erase."

Patch pulled me closer and kissed my forehead, "I'm so sorry, Angel. If I could have taken your place, I would have. I wish I could take away all the memories, all the pain. I could put a block on your mind, but since I don't know the specifics of what happened, it wouldn't work completely and some of the pain would still be there." Tears had started to slowly run down my face, he wiped them away gently before continuing; " But if you ever need to talk about it or anything like that, you know I'm here right?" I nodded and he pulled me into a long searing kiss. I turned my head and deepened the kiss. He rolled onto his back and pulled me with him, so that I was straddling him. The kissing had started as a way for us to soothe each other, but had turned quickly into something more heated. Patch's hands were making their way up my sides, pushing my shirt up with them. I decided to work my way up his body too, in the past this had always been a mistake, my hands had inevitably found his wing scars and I was thrown into a less than happy memory. I told myself that this time I would make a conscious effort to make sure my hands stayed away from the upside down V that took up most of his back. I made quick work of his shirt and let my hands wander down the front of his body, stopping just above his low slung jeans. His breaths became deeper and longer; his lips and hands less focused. I knew he was enjoying this, like he had never enjoyed anything before. Feeling extremely pleased to know that not only could he feel my touch, bit that he was enjoying it immensely, I switched form lightly running my hands over his skin, to using my mouth and tongue.

Patch immediately began to gasp as he experienced this new sensation and before long his breathing became quick and unsteady, He gently pushed me off of him and sat up to catch his breath. He was sitting on the side of the bed with his feet on the floor and his head bowed as he pulled in large lungfuls of air. I scrambled across the bed, not knowing what was wrong and if I had caused it, I sent a worried question into his mind and got back a soft response.

_Angel, I'm fine. I've just never felt anything like this before, it's a lot to take in. _

I sat down next to him with a barely there smile of satisfaction on my face, "we'll just have to take things slower," I offered, dropping my head on his shoulder.

I felt him nod against me as he kissed my temple, "we do have forever."


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the late and short chapter. I thought spring break would give me tons of time to write, needless to say I have had less than when I have to work, but next weeks chapter is shaping up to be pretty intense. Thanks once again to 88 for letting me use her idea for Patch's career as a PI.**

I never actually got to eat any of the food Patch brought home, so I was starving. Patch, being the amazing boyfriend he is, had once again stocked his fridge full of my favorite foods, and I set about making myself a sandwich while he slowly drank a bottle of water to get himself back under control. I ate my dinner and watched Patch closely. I could tell he was thinking about something, I cocked my head to the side, scrunching my eyebrows together to show my concern, "something you care to share?"

His eyes flicked up to meet mine, and I could see the concern in them. "You need to call your mom. The two of you need to work out a lot of the things going on between you. I don't want you two to grow apart during a time when you need to support each other." He nodded matter-of-factly, kissed my forehead and made his way back to the bedroom, apparently satisfied that his point had been made and that I would immediately call her.

She answered on the second ring, her voice clipped, trying to conceal her emotions. "Nora," was all she said.

It was obviously up to me to advance the conversation. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for earlier, I should be more understanding of your feelings." The memory of her slapping me made my face sting and the beginnings of tears to prick at my eyes.

"Thank you for the apology. I've had a long day and I am tired and want to go to bed."

"O-okay." I couldn't understand why she was being so cold. "Mom can we... can we talk about this?"

"Nora, I have a headache,I don't want to have another argument tonight. I just want to go to bed. Good-night, Nora."

"Good night, Mom." I wasn't sure I had gotten it out before she hung up. I walked slowly back to the bedroom, the tears that had found my eyes during the phone call had started to splash from my lashes and down my face. Patch was sitting in the window seat with a laptop open in front of him and he didn't initially notice me walking in. I sniffled, which caught his attention. The originally hopeful look on his face quickly fell when he saw my tears. "She didn't want to talk to me." I choked out. He closed the computer and allowed me to crawl into his lap and snuggle into his chest. He kissed my tears, "I'm sorry, Angel. I figured she'd be happy to hear from you."

I just slowly shook my head. "What's with the new laptop?"

"It's for work," I cocked an eyebrow, curious as to what he defined as _work_. "I decided to take your advice about getting a real job."

"Oh, yeah, I never got to apologize for that, I've kind of had a bad day, can you forgive me?"

"I'm over it if you are."

I nodded enthusiastically, "when did you get a job?"

"This afternoon, there are a surprising number of people who gamble for a living need the services of a private investigator," he smirked.

I snorted out a small laugh as well, " so you are taking your sneaky surveillance skills to help the Portland underworld?"

"I've gotta start somewhere."

"And you convinced someone to let you take on this job with no experience?"

"I have experience, you just said I did, and there may have been some internal persuasion going on."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes, though i was smiling. Leave it to Patch to use his mind altering powers to convince someone to give him a job. "I'm hoping that I can get a lot of the surveillance done during the day, but I may have to do some of it at night and leave you here."

"Or I could go with you," I added hopefully.

"No," he said quickly, "I have put you in enough danger the last few months and I am not going to do it again." When I started to pout he added, "besides I distinctly remember having to save you the last time you decided to try and spy."

He meant Hank's warehouse, but there was also the botched attempt in Scott's room and the trap Rixon set for me when we were broken up. "Yeah you're right, I'm not very good at it." I giggled softly. "I am good at other things though," I said softly with a seductive smile, before starting to tickle him. His reaction reminded me of a small child. He laughed loudly and tried to wiggle away from me. I turned to straddle him and pin him against the wall and began trying to wrestle him out of his shirt. He regained the upper hand and wrapped his arms around me. He picked me up and carried me to the bed. He turned our tickle fight into a series of long, passionate kisses. Half an hour later we were cuddled in the same position we were when we first arrived here this evening. "I guess I'm staying here tonight."

"While I would never willingly turn you away, you have to try and fix things with your mom tomorrow." I nodded. "There's pajamas for you in the third drawer. There's also clothes in the closet for the morning." He was already getting out of bed as he added, "I'll be back in a couple hours, I wasn't expecting you to stay tonight and had already set up an initial surveillance consult with my client."

I accepted the soft kiss he placed on my lips as he left. If I got upset about him leaving again, then things would get bad again, and I didn't want that. I got ready for bed, but sleep didn't come. There was too much going on in my head to sleep. I still hadn't resolved my fight with my mom, Patch was out for an indeterminate amount of time and the only other time I had slept in this bed without him was the night before the battle hen he was in Hell and Dante tried to convince me to skip the battle by coming to my dreams as Patch. I still had Scot's funeral to prepare for and I wasn't sure exactly what the future held for Patch and I in our respective races. After what seemed like hours, I drifted into a fitful sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**I can no longer guarantee regular updates on this story, my writing process is long and I have 12 bajillion things going on right now, unfortunately this story is close to the bottom of the list I have to do every day.**

**This is a trigger warning for a graphic nightmare at the beginning, if you can't handle that start reading after the page break.**

**I feel like there was more I needed to say, but I forgot it. Oh well, enjoy**

Chapter 6

Everything was dark and I was running from something; what I did not know. The only thing I knew was that I was filled with terror and had to get away.

"No-ra," a vaguely familiar voice purred. It wasn't a comforting sound, but sinister, and the hair on the back of my neck perked up in response. "Norraa," the voice sounded again. It seemed to be coming from my left, so I turned right. My breath caught, as soon as I rounded the corner, standing there, with his arms crossed in front of his chest, and a depraved smile on his face was Baruch, the tattoo covered fallen angel who crashed my Halloween party last month and tried to force me to swear fealty. He advanced on me, a hot fireplace poker in his hand. His movements were slow and careful, he was taunting me and my heart rate ratcheted up even more than it already was. "I believe this is for you," he intoned in his odd accent, indicating the tool in his hand. I turned to run, before I heard him clucking his tongue behind me, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." I didn't listen and had only made it a few steps when the barrel of a gun was shoved in my face.

"Did ya miss me, Love?" Rixon's voice hit me before I saw his face. Baruch was behind me, still moving forward in a slow but determined way. I didn't know what to do; I wanted to run, to scream for help, to fight back against these two villains from my past. I couldn't do anything, not even cry. I was frozen to the spot, watching the weapons come closer and closer to me. I fell into a heap on the floor, gasping for breaths that never seemed to come. I finally managed a small whimper.

"Patch," it was barely a whisper, but all my body could produce.

"Angel?" His voice was far away and concerned; his body was nowhere to be found. "Angel, what's wrong?" His voice had filled with panic, "where are you?"

"I- don't- know," each word came out as a gasp using all the oxygen I was able to take in. "I- I can't breathe, I," I wanted to cry, but I didn't have the energy. My eyes were locked shut, so I didn't have to see the two men advancing on me. "He's- Rix- I'm scared Patch."

"Angel, you're asleep, it's not real, you're okay, just," I cut him off with a terrified scream. Fire had popped up all around me and I could feel the flames licking at my body, that was curled into a heap on the ground, shaking with fear and tears that were unable to form, "I'm coming, Angel, I'll be there soon."

Patch came home to find me in the bed, blankets tossed on the floor, my body rigid and covered in sweat, my hands fisted tightly in the sheets. He leapt across the room and into the bed, shoes and jacket still on. Prying my hands form the sheets, he grasped them both tightly in one of his and pulled me into his chest with the other. His voice was in my head trying desperately to soothe me and bring me back to reality. Patch's smell, which had always been so strong and comforting to me, the scents of earth and mint and leather, began to seep into my body. I started to breathe in deeply and the large breaths I was taking in aided in slowing my heart rate and evening my breathing.

Tears had begun to stream down my face. Patch pulled away slightly and pulled my face to look at him, "Angel," he said with question in his voice. I just shook my head and buried myself back into his chest. I wasn't ready to talk about it yet. I knew that I would need to talk about it, and that Patch would be curious to know what caused me to have such a large breakdown, but for now I just needed to feel him next to me and know that I was safe. For now he was content to let me have the calm quiet, but eventually he would press me for information. He kissed the top of my head and splayed his palm on my back, locking my torso into place next to his.

I opened my eyes to the soft light that was filling the room. It was early morning and I was still safely ensconced in Patch's arms. I lightly rubbed my nose on the bare skin of his shoulder, before placing a soft kiss on the warm skin. At some point after I fell asleep, probably using the help of mind control, he must have gotten out of bed and gotten undressed, removing not only his shoes and coat, but also his shirt and jeans. He was still sound asleep, nothing covering his body except for a pair of black printed silk boxers. The silk reminded me of sleeping in his giant, comfy bed at his loft under Delphic. He hadn't taken the time to personalize the condo yet. The dark navy, high thread count sheets below me were still soft and cozy and much better than anything I had at the farmhouse. Patch made a low grumble, before opening his eyes and looking down at me. His lips tilted into an almost smile, "morning," he breathed, he combed his fingers through my hair, "feeling better?" I nodded softly and pressed my lips to his shoulder again. "You had me worried, Angel, what happened?"

"Bad dream," his face told me knew that much and wanted me to elaborate. "I was running, I ran right into Baruch, then turned around and Rixon had a gun and …" I couldn't finish, nothing else had really happened, beyond my reaction to everything, and just thinking about it now was making me uncomfortable.

He stroked my cheek and neck comfortingly. "They can't hurt you anymore, Angel, they're gone." I knew he knew that I understood that, but he was trying to calm me back down. "I'll never let anyone hurt you," he kissed the inside of my wrist.

"I know, I just, I don't know why all of a sudden being by myself is so terrifying. I thought at first that it was just about being in that big house all by myself, but now it's happening here too and it scares me. I don't want to be scared every time I'm by myself for the rest of my life, or have nightmares every time I go to sleep."

Patch sat up and pulled me up with him, leaning us both against the headboard. "You have nightmares like this all the time?"

"Not this bad, but yeah. Most of the time they are about being alone and scared or being tortured by Hank's men, but when I wake up from them, I know they were real, it's like the memories form that time are slowly coming back to me in my sleep."

"That makes sense. It's when you let your guard down the most and when you are most vulnerable to your memories flooding back in. But yesterday you freaked out while you were awake too."

"Yeah, yesterday was a bad day."

"I'll do everything I can to help you, but you may need to go see a professional about this or something."

I rolled my eyes at his ridiculous suggestion, "yeah, I'll just walk into a therapists office and tell him about my father altering my memories after he kidnapped me and the ongoing war between Nephilim and Fallen Angels, and I'm sure he'll completely understand and send me home instead of committing me, because I'm crazy."

"Most Nephils have regular jobs; you already have experience with one who's a doctor. I'm sure you can find one who's a therapist."

"I hate therapy and I haven't had great experience with therapists in the past."

"Okay, but: A. Dabria wasn't a licensed therapist and B. she was crazy."

"You would know," I said bitterly.

"I would, and she was crazy, certifiably really, had always been. Most Angels of Death are though, usually. It's the whole knowing when, where and how of a human's death thing, I think. It's pretty creepy and it bothers them."

I shook my head and chuckled, he seemed to be receiving some humor out of talking about crazy angels. "Did you know some other Angels of Death?"

"Yeah, had a couple of close friends that were; fun guys to hang out with but kind of messed up. Seriously though, Angel, I want you to get some help. I don't want you to be haunted by all the terror in your past forever. You've finally made me eternally happy, and I want you to be happy with me." He kissed me softly and smiled.

"I am happy with you," I said leaning up to kiss him. "So happy," I breathed between kisses. I moved so that I was straddling his hips, deepening the kisses as I moved. My hands moved frantically over the naked skin of Patch's chest, arms and stomach. He quickly removed my night shirt, needing to feel my skin against his own. The feeling of his hands touching new places made me moan and whimper as it sent delicious waves of passion through my body. From where I was sitting I could feel how aroused he was becoming as well. Our actions became less focused as we both gave in to the passion that was taking over. We were on a path that I had never been down before, but I no longer cared to stop it. As we were nearing the point of no return, with gasping breaths and hot, slightly sweaty skin, my phone began to ring. I desperately wanted to ignore it and continue getting lost on the feelings that Patch was eliciting in me. But his movements slowed and he pulled away from me, signaling that he wanted me to answer. "Hello," I huffed, frustrated, into the phone.

"Nora," I heard the sadness in my mother's tone, "are you okay?"

"Yeah, Mom, I'm fine, just waking up." I wrapped my mostly nude body in the sheet and heard Patch turn on the shower in the adjoining bathroom.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday. I overreacted, I never should have slapped you, it was out of line. I've just been so worried about you lately. Nora, you're my baby, you're all I have left. I know that you feel like I betrayed you by never telling you about your real father, but I always believed that it was for the best. Harrison loved you, even before we were sure of our love for each other; we were both in love with you. I did intend on telling you about Hank, I had planned on telling you when you were much younger, your dad and I discussed it a lot. But as you grew, so did your hatred for Marcie and the entire Millar family, and we decided that telling you before you were 18 and could leave Coldwater behind forever, would be devastating for you. Your dad was always even more hesitant to tell you, I never understood why. I guess it probably had to do with something Hank told him about all this that is going on now."

"She knew, Mom. I don't know if she knew the whole time, but she knew who my father was before I did, and she used it against me. And she knew about you and Hank too."

There were tears now; tears of loss and sadness, disgust and confusion, all pouring out of me as I sat cradled in sheets in a bed that felt too big without Patch.

She was crying too. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart. I never wanted you to find out any of this the way you did. I made a mistake getting involved with Hank again, I didn't realize how big of one until recently."

"How long, Mom?"

"What?" She asked, clearly confused by my question and the anger in my voice.

"How long had you been sleeping with him?" The implication was clear.

"Nora! How dare you! Harrison was my husband, no matter the circumstances that led to our marriage, I made a promise to him and I kept that promise!"

"That didn't answer my question, I saw his car at our house my first day back at school after Dad's funeral. Was that the first time, or did you jump into bed with him as soon as you found out dad was dead?"

" I was in mourning, Nora. I admit that what I did was stupid, but I just lost my husband, half of my heart, and I couldn't ask you to bear my sadness when you already had so much of your own. I needed someone to cry with, and Hank was there, he loved your father like a brother you know; even more so after he stepped up to marry me and take care of our m-," She stopped cold.

"Were you just about to call me a mistake?" My anger exploded out of me.

"Not you, just the situation. I never should have continued seeing him after he married Susanna, but he had always been so lovely to me and I had been so in love with him. I never understood why he married Susanna, he seemed so hopeless when he found out she was pregnant and then even more so when I told him I was. I knew he was still in love with me though, he never stopped loving me." Mom's voice had become wistful while she talked about the man who had tried to kill me.

"He used you as a bargaining chip."

"What do you mean?"

"When he was forcing me to swear an oath to lead his stupid army, threatening my life didn't get him what he wanted, he wouldn't take _no_ for an answer. He had you locked in a room in his warehouse, and told me to make the oath or we'd both die, and I couldn't let you die. I did it for you, Mom, because I love you." We were both in tears now. I wanted to hug her and have her tell me everything was going to be okay, that we'd be okay; but that couldn't happen on the phone. "Mom, can I come over? Can we talk about _all_ of this?"

"Of course, Sweetheart, this is your home, you're always welcome here."

"I love you, Mom. See you soon."

"I love you too, Nora." We hung up after that and I let out a huge breath, I hoped this would finally bring down the wall that had wedged between her and I. I quickly realized I was still wrapped just in the sheet and wearing only my panties. I made my way to the dresser and found the drawer Patch told me was mine. I opened it and was happy to find that the undergarments within it were almost exactly like the ones in my bedroom back home. I smiled on my way to the shower, thinking of how perfect my boyfriend was. Any other girl, of any age probably, who's boyfriend went out and bought them a new wardrobe, would probably find nothing but skimpy thongs and push-up bras in the underwear drawer, not that I wouldn't benefit from a push-up bra.

After showering, I went to the closet and selected a long heather-grey hooded thermal, skinny jeans and a pair of black Converse. All of them fit perfectly. I heard the front door open as I slipped on the shoes, running to Patch without tying them. I threw myself into his arms, crushing my mouth with his and kissing him fiercely. It only took a second for him to fall in sync with me. "What was that for?" He asked, breathless when we separated.

"Just thanking you for being the most amazing boyfriend ever."

He pulled me back into him, kissing me lightly, "well if this is my thanks, then I will gladly do more to make you happy." He kissed me a few more times. "What's going on?" He asked noticing my attire.

"Going to my Mom's; we're going to talk."

"Good, I'll drop you off."

"Okay, where were you?"

"Down by the bay. I was just sitting and thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing much: us, enjoying not being hunted by someone for a change,"

I nodded happily at him; I felt the same way, though he had been running for much longer.

We got in the truck and began the journey to my mom's house; it was about a fifteen minute drive, "what do you want for dinner, tonight?" He asked.

"It's ten o'clock in the morning I haven't even thought about dinner yet."

I just thought if there was anything particular that you were craving, I could make it to celebrate your first official night in our place."

"I stayed there last night."

"Because you had a fight with your mom, It's Thursday which means it's our first of three nights together, thought we could do something to commemorate it."

"Scott's funeral is tomorrow," I added sadly. I hadn't been thinking about it until Patch pointed out that it was Thursday.

He took my hand and softly kissed my knuckles. "I'm sorry, Angel, we can celebrate next week." I just shrugged as we pulled onto Hawthorne. "Do you want me to walk you in?"

"No, I'm fine." I said shaking my head. Patch leaned over and kissed me, though it was a chaste kiss, I could feel the love conveyed within it.

"Call me when you're ready." I nodded closing the truck door. _I love you_, he sent into my thoughts as I walked up the driveway.

I turned around and smiled, _I love you too._

**So something weird happened and my story went from 3002 words to 3089, I couldn't find anything blatant when I skimmed it again, but if something is really off please let me know so I can fix it. Thanks.**


	8. Chapter 8

**For as long as this chapter took me to write, I would have thought that it would be longer, but if I had included everything that Nora and Blythe talked about I would have been restating a lot that was in the books, and since I am assuming most of you have read the book( why would you be reading this if you haven't) I didn't feel that was necessary.**

Chapter 7

I was perched on a stool at the island as my mom got out mugs for cocoa. The kettle was already warming on the wood burning stove. Upon my arrival my mother and I shared a long tearful hug and decided that we should have cocoa and snacks for comfort as we approached the long talk ahead of us.

We moved to the couch with our drinks and a bag of hazelnut biscotti. "So, where should we start?" I asked with my mug propped on my bent knee, the other leg folded underneath me. My mom was curled into the corner of the couch, gripping her mug with both hands.

"I think we should start with some ground rules," she said, "like we have to be honest, no hiding things anymore. That goes for both of us; you're old enough to know the truth now."

I nodded, "we also have to hear each other out, there's going to be things said that the other person probably won't want to hear, but we have to listen and be respectful."

"Agreed. How did you become involved in all of this? Presumably all of this stuff with the army and everything was going on for much longer than the last few months."

"I found out about Nephilim and Fallen Angels when I first started dating Patch."

"Did he just come out and tell you?"

"No," I chuckled at the thought of how that conversation would have gone. "He actually didn't want me to know at first, I needed to be able to trust him, so he could sacrifice me."

"I never understood that part the other day, you said both Patch and this Rixon guy wanted to sacrifice you?"

"The Book of Enoch says that a fallen angel can become human by killing their Nephil vassal."

"I thought you said Nephil's are immortal?" She interrupted.

"I'm getting to that," I said annoyed at the interruption.

"Sorry," she said and then motioned for me to continue.'

"The way a fallen angel kills it's vassal is to sacrifice a sixteen year old female descendant of the vassal."

"But that Chauncey person isn't your ancestor, Hank is."

"Well at the time, Patch didn't know Hank was my father, Rixon did, but that is a different story, Patch believed I was Harrison Grey's daughter."

I could see the need to ask a question boiling within her, so I answered for her, "it ended up that somewhere along the line Chauncey and Hank, whose real name is Barnabus, by the way, have a shared relative, since female angels can fall too."

"So both Hank and Chauncey died, but you're still alive and Patch isn't human?" She was very confused, and I really could understand why. There was a lot you had to know about what had happened recently to be able to keep up.

"Correct, when I threw myself off the rafter," she winced, having never known that particular detail before, "my sacrifice killed Chauncey, and Patch could have had his human body, but her rejected it, thus saving my life and making him a guardian angel. "

"Why did he give it up, if you dying was the plan all along, so that he could get it?"

I gave her an expression that asked how she could be so dense, "because he had fallen in love with me and didn't want to lose me."

"And yet two months later you two had broken up and you never wanted to talk to him again," her statement came across with all the derisive _mother to a hormonal teenager_ sarcasm she intended.

"He was reassigned to Marcie, bit couldn't tell me that. All I knew was that they were spending an awful lot of time together. The whole thing worked put perfectly for Rixon, he used my anger at Patch over the Marcie issue to convince me that Patch was the one who killed Dad, which pushed me farther from trusting Patch with my suspicions. Rixon knew I was Hank's daughter, and while he had spent moths telling Patch he was crazy for trying to get his human body, was secretly working against him to do the same thing."

"I thought they were friends."

"They were, more like brothers really. That's why Rixon's betrayal hurt Patch so much and why he took it upon himself to personally chain him in Hell and burn his feather."

"How did Rixon know about your paternity?"

"Dad showing up with a gun to protect Hank form Rixon kind of gave it away."

"Your dad died protecting Hank?"

"Yes, ironic really, since he didn't need it; Rixon knew that all he was doing was threatening Hank, the bullets would cause pain, but he would live."

"How much of this did your Dad know?"

"Only that someone from his past would be coming for me when I turned sixteen and that he had to protect me from this person who wanted to hurt me. I think he suspected something wasn't normal about Hank, but never knew what. He also knew that he had to keep my true paternity hidden, even form me."

Realization dawned on my mother's face, "that's why he was so reluctant to tell you," I nodded, "and why he wanted to move away from Coldwater." She started crying, "If I had just listened when he told me that moving would be good for you, then he may still be here. She began to sob.

I reached out and tightly grasped her hand. "Listen to me, Mom. Rixon would have followed us wherever we went. He would have sacrificed me. I wouldn't have had Patch to save me. Hank and Chauncey would have continued to build up their army and develop Devilcraft, and who knows what that would have led to. I know that it sucks that we lost Dad, but I don't think Hank or Rixon would have stopped, and you know Dad would have continued to protect me at all costs, you probably would have lost us both. I told Scott the same thing, Chauncey, Hank and Rixon were men with an agenda and no qualms about hurting whoever they needed to, to get what they needed."

"Scott?"

"He was told by an associate of The Black Hand, Hank's name to those in the Nephil underworld; that he was supposed to be protecting Dad that night in Portland. The only experience he had had with the Black Hand was bad and he decided he wasn't going to do his bidding. He felt guilty until he died about that night. It's part of the reason he felt he needed to fight so hardtop save me."

She pulled me into a hug and we cried together, for a long time, we were mourning the loss of so much; my Dad, Scott, my innocence. We were also silently apologizing for the mistakes we had made in handling our relationship over the last year.

"So, this thing with Patch is pretty serious, huh?"

I wanted to roll my eyes, but her tone was one of _"I'm in Mom mode,"_ so I just nodded and politely answered. "Yes, Mom, and please don't start the _"you're only seventeen and you don't know what love is stuff."_

"I wasn't going to Nora, how can I say that to you during and honest, woman-to-woman conversation when the truth is I was in love when I was your age?"

"With Hank," I asked a disgusted edge to my voice.

"Yes with _Hank, _but not the Hank you know, when we were younger he was kind and sweet. He would always bring me little gifts and do everything he could to make me happy. Everything changed around the time you were born though. Susannah was pregnant with Marcie, and the idea of that seemed to scare him, beyond just the consequences of having two women pregnant at the same time."

"That's because they were never supposed to be able to have a baby. Susannah is also Nephilim, they aren't supposed to be able to mate with each other."

"So Marcie is like a miracle baby?" My mom asked her voice full of wonderment.

"I guess you could say that," I shivered at the thought of her being considered a _miracle,_ "but she is really frail and weak and not going to live very long, at least according to what Hank said."

"How horrible for them; knowing that their child will never outlive them."

"They're immortal, Mom, Hank has watched generations of his children die." She looked stricken; I knew she must have been hit with a realization.

"Do-do you know how old he really is?'

"He had a wife and children when he swore fealty to Rixon, I don't know his exact age at the time, or the year, but since one of his son's was dying of the plague, I'd say it was the 1350's."

"Hank is over 600 years old?"

"I can't really talk, Patch is even older." The look on her face told me she wanted to know how old. "He's only been down here since the 1300's, but he's an original Archangel, he was around when the angels who tempted Adam and Eve were cast out of heaven."

"Wow."  
"You know, I didn't intend to kill Hank right?" She looked at me. "When it came down to it Patch convinced me that killing him, even after everything he had done to me, that would be filled with guilt. We were just going to keep him in a cell under Patch's studio forever, but he tried to kill Patch. I didn't have time to think, I just shot. I never wanted that to happen."

"I understand sweetheart." I texted Patch to head to my Mom's to pick me up. She gave me a weird look and I could tell she wanted to ask a question. "What?"

"Do you really need to go?"

"Mom, we had a deal."

"I know, but, well Patch can feel now right?"

"Yeah," I nodded not really sure where she was going.

"So you guys are," she stopped ant took a deep breath, "being intimate?"

My eyes shot open with the understanding of what she was asking, "Not yet, Mom, no, we haven't."

"But, I mean, he'll want to obviously though; soon."

"Yeah, I want that too. What's your point?"

I just want you to be careful."

"I will, Mom."

"I know, I know, it's just that you're 17, Nora."

"I'll be fine; you raised me to be smart and assertive. You don't need to worry about stuff like that. Okay?" I asked as the doorbell rang.

"Okay." She said hugging me before I turned to leave.

**I'm starting to feel like it's coming off that I don't like Blythe, when really I just see her as kind of flaky and naive.**


	9. Chapter 9

**So I know it', been a while, but I had the next chapter and a half all written and then I got some reviews that were kind of upsetting, not mean or inappropriate, just made me rethink this whole story. I considered putting it on long term hiatus. Then I made a list of points that I was going to write as an authors note, but then I got inspired to write this chapter from Patch's POV, and I hope it addresses most of the concerns brought up in the reviews.**

Patch's POV

Nora was snoring softly in my arms, she was exhausted; these last few days had obviously taken a toll on her. She hadn't snored any other time I had seen her sleep.

After coming home from the farmhouse, we ate a quiet dinner in front of the fire place. After dinner we sat together talking, we hadn't had a lot of opportunities to talk recently with everything going on. After first making sure that she was okay and happy, which she assured me of with a kiss, I moved on to talking about our future. "I was planning on moving back into the studio as soon as I get it cleaned up," her eyes became wide and took on a panicked look, "Angel, what's wrong?"

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to go in their again, the last memory I have of it is Scott pulling me out of the fire, telling me it was too late, you were gone." Her eyes shined with unshed tears. I softly kissed her forehead and rubbed her back in what I hoped was a soothing way.

"We can stay here as long as you need. I'll fix it up while you're at school, you don't have to go until you're ready." She nodded and I pulled her into me and held her until I felt her muscles lose their tension. I chuckled slightly and she glared at me, "Sorry," I said, "this whole feeling thing is still new and a little…_odd." _Her eyes softened and she leaned on my shoulder, using mind speak to urge me to continue. I guess after hundreds of years of only having two weeks every year to be able to feel, I became so focused on finding the specific sensation I was seeking, I forgot about everything else. I forgot that I could feel the other person."

"Or you just didn't care."

I nodded, "you made me care again." She leaned in and pressed her lips softly to mine. I put my hand on the back of her head, and our mouths were pushed against each other harder. A moan escaped my throat as Nora ran her hands down my sides, stopping at my hips, he left thumb just under my t-shirt. I loved the way it felt to kiss her, but I wanted more, and by the way her hands were sneaking under my shirt, I figured she did too. I moved my mouth down her face, to her jaw and her throat, then her neck to her clavicle. She arched her back, pushing her chest into me, her breathing was deeper and her heart racing. Everything about her felt amazing. The primal side of me took over, shirts were quickly discarded. Her bra was easy work, years of taking advantage of women for my own purposes had made me adept at removing their clothes efficiently. Nora gasped as I moved roughly down her chest, using my teeth to nip at the sensitive flesh, she doesn't pull away or tell me to stop. She laid back and I crawled on top of her, pining her to the floor. Her hands moved carefully around my back, nothing would kill the mood more than a trip down _Patch's Memory Lane_. I shuddered at the feeling of her soft fingers as she dug them into my hips. I pulled away from her momentarily to calm my breathing, I was starting to lose myself in the feelings. I locked my eyes with hers, to remind myself that this wasn't just about my physical feelings. This was Nora, my Angel. She was the reason I could feel physically, and the only reason I cared to feel emotionally. If I couldn't keep myself under control, I would hurt her. It was my nature and what I had done for so long. I had never cared before if what I was doing was hurting was hurting anyone, in fact I enjoyed causing pain. People deserved pain, without pain they wouldn't know to be grateful for the things that made them feel good. Nora's eyes changed, where they were full of loe and passion, now they held confusion and concern.

"Patch, you're trembling," she said softly.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You weren't hurting me."

"But I could," I said as I climbed off of her and sat back against the couch.

She sat up too, taking my hand in hers, "You wouldn't, not on purpose."

"Accidentally hurting you wouldn't be any better," I said through clenched teeth. She brought my hand to her mouth and kissed each one of my fingers, a gesture I had done for her before. I turned my head slightly so I could see her face again, she moved our clasped hands to her chest and flattened mine against her heart.

"I love you, Patch, and more than that, I trust you. I trust that you would never do something to intentionally hurt me, and if you accidentally hurt me, I'll get over it. I'm pretty tough, _and_ immortal." I gave her a dubious look, she knew what I was capable of. "If it would make you feel better, I'll hurt you back. I wonder what a stick shoved in to your wing scars would feel like now." I winced and pulled my hand away while she giggled playfully. She kissed me softly, but pulled away quickly, leaving me wanting more. "We should probably get to bed," she said pulling on my arm.

"I'm okay right here," I replied suggestively, pulling her back down and starting a trail of kisses down her neck, "but if you'd like it better in the bed, I'm happy to oblige."

She blushed, "I meant sleep; we have a long day tomorrow." She groaned as she pulled away again. I got up and slowly followed her to the bedroom, gathering our discarded clothes as I went. I had just hung my belt back on its hook when she came out of the bathroom with her hair up and wearing a nightshirt. I turned down the comforter and let her climb in before me. I kissed her forehead as she snuggled into me. As she drifted off I thought about what she had said about being tough. The Nora I met last year was anything but tough. In the last few months though, she had completely changed. She had taken on and beaten multiple immortal beings; starting with Chauncey in April, then Rixon, Hank and Dante, not to mention the entire armies of Nephilim and fallen angels.

Nora had changed my life for the better, but I realize as we lay here, that I did the same for her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Quick note: anytime there are words in italics on lines by themselves characters are using mind speak.**

Ch. 9

I woke up with a huge sense of foreboding. Scott's funeral was today, in just a few short hours actually. I went through my morning routine slowly, trying to delay the inevitable as long as possible. I showered slowly, letting the hot water beat against my skin until it turned cold. I dressed mechanically, in the long sleeved black skater dress, black tights and ankle boots, which I had set out last night. Patch watched me, his face full of concern as he arranged the black tie on his neck.

He hadn't wanted to come with me today, didn't feel like he would be welcomed or that it was appropriate for him to attend the funeral of a Nephil. His protest had led to a small, tear filled outburst from me. I begged him to come, I needed his support and reminded him of the things Scott had done, not just for me, but him as well, in the last days of his life.

We arrived at the funeral home, with its meager, somber decorations. There was a guest book next to a framed picture of a smiling Scott leaning up against a Mustang. I made sure to sign both my name and Patch's name, thinking that if there was a way for Scott to see this book in the afterlife, I wanted him to know that Patch had been here too.

Vee must have walked in while I was signing the guest book, she was clinging to Patch as if he were her life force, and he just looked uncomfortable. I walked over to them and opened my arms to her, noting her appearance. Black was not a color I usually saw Vee wear, but even in mourning she managed to keep some of her signature style. She was wearing black, silk looking, cigarette pants and a sweater with a deep v with a red lace lined camisole. She had a multi-strand pearl necklace that had a knotted cubic zirconia embellished cluster just to the right of her throat, and of course she was wearing sky high, black platform stiletto heels.

She left Patch's arms and collapsed into mine. "Hey," I whispered to her, "it's okay. We're here for you, we'll get through this together." Patch had his hand place lightly on the small of my back. I looked around the foyer at the small gathering of people. My mom was holding Lynn in a similar way to how I held Vee, and there were a few younger guys that I recognized as Scott's Nephilim friends. We all made our way in to the chapel and just as the doors closed a man slipped into the back of the room. Based on Lynn's negative reaction to him and his resemblance to Scott, I figured he must be Scott's dad.

The funeral director started the ceremony by giving a brief synopsis of Scott's life. There was a slide show with pictures of him throughout his life. There were a few that had me in them, from when we were in kindergarten. There was also one of him and Vee at the end and it caused her to break into sobs. After the slideshow everyone was encouraged to come to the front and share memories and stories of Scott. Lynn went first and did a very good job of keeping herself together. My mom went second, and said some pretty nice things about Scott; not that they weren't true, but I know my mom did not have the greatest opinion of Scott, even after our talk yesterday.

I wanted to be able to tell these people truly how much Scott had done for me, and what him giving his life meant to _everyone_, humans and Nephilim alike. But there were people here who didn't know what any of us were and wouldn't understand, most especially, Lynn. I didn't want her to think any differently of Scott, because of fear of the unknown. Those who had been most directly affected by his sacrifice already knew the truth anyway. In the end I gave a short speech about being attacked by a biker gang and how grateful I was that Scott had saved. I was telling the truth when I mentioned how grateful I was that Scott had shown up when he did and how sorry I was that he lost his life to save mine. I cried as I apologized to his parents for taking away their only child. I wept upon arriving back at my seat and was enveloped by Vee and Patch. Vee had been too emotional to give her speech, which could have caused her to reveal too much of the truth of the situation. The funeral director once again took over, leading the small group of mourners in a few prayers, then inviting everyone back to the farmhouse for a small reception, where we could grieve together. There would be no graveside internment, since Scoot had died in the cemetery. No one wanted to mourn at the scene of the crime.

My mom had gotten some appetizers catered and delivered to the house and most of the people form the ceremony were eating and talking in hushed voices, Mr. Parnell chose not to come.

_Nora_

I heard the voice pressing into my brain and looked up. I looked around the room to find the Nephil responsible. Patch, who was on the couch next to me also looked around subtly.

_Over here_

the voice was to my left and I Tono, one of the Nephil's that first escorted me to the council after Hank's death, and a couple of other very tall boys making their way up the stairs. Patch and I quickly controlled the minds of those around us, so our presence wouldn't be missed and followed the others to my room.

"Nora," Tono started, "this is Bart and Rich, friends of mine, and we wanted to let you know that we still support you."

I knit my eyebrows together, not completely understanding them. Patch helped me,

_They're talking about the army, Angel._

Realization dawned on me, "Oh, that's very nice of you, but I don't really feel like there is a point to having an army anymore. The fallen angels are gone." They all looked accusingly at Patch. "He's not a threat to you or any other Nephil anymore." I said in my most authoritative voice, if they still looked at me as their leader, then they needed to know that I was serious.

"I understand that _you_ trust him, but what reason do we have to?"

"First of all, _because _I trust him is reason enough, but secondly Patch no longer has a need for a vassal. I let them fill in the reason for that on their own.

"But there will be others," Bart said, a look of concern on his face. That got me thinking, he was right, there would be more fallen angels. There would always be more. Pepper, we were almost sure, would be falling any day now. We could control him, but others, there was no way that I could ensure that all the Nephils would be safe in the future, and isn't that what I wanted when I went in to that battle? "You gentlemen make a good point. I will have to consider how I want to handle this situation." My voice and words sounded encouraging and commanding, but after the three men left nodding their approval at my statement, my inner turmoil surfaced. "What am I going to do," I asked Patch, "I want them to be free."


	11. Chapter 11

**This chapter is a little shorter than I would like, but I feel like it ends where I want it to, and if I add anything else it will feel forced. Don't worry though, next chapter will more than make up for this one.**

**Also, I'm really hoping you all liked the last chapter, I know it was not great subject matter, but it needed to be done, since i got no reviews, I assume no one liked it. Sorry, I'll do better**

Chapter 10

"It's not your fight anymore, Angel, you fulfilled your end of the oath. You never said you would keep them safe or lead their army forever."

"But we only beat the _current_ fallen angels, we know there will be more, what then? We have the numbers in our favor now, but I'm sure there will come a time when they'll catch up to us. It's never going to end, Patch, not unless we do something about it now."

"We can't."

"What?"

"We can't do anything about it. Nephils would not exist if not for fallen angels. As long as we both exist, we will be enemies and Nephil's will continue to be enslaved."

My jaw dropped in utter disbelief of what he was saying. "Are you seriously taking _their_ side?"

"I'm not taking _any_ side. I'm just telling you how things are. You can't change Divine Law."

"So I'm just supposed to sit back and watch innocent people swear fealty and do nothing about it?"

"_Innocent_ people?"

"Patch," I growled, hotly, losing my temper with his flippant attitude, "that's not the point."

"Then what is the point, Nora? Millions of people are enslaved every day, have been throughout history, will continue to be forever. People have tried to liberate them for centuries; abolishing slavery, making indentured servitude illegal. It always comes back, but usually by that time both the enslaved and their liberators have long passed. Your immortal, you'll be around to see when it all comes back again, and it will devastate you." He paused as if allowing me time to think about what he had just said.

"I can't just do nothing."

"I'm just trying to keep you from an eternity long battle that you will never win."

"Let it go, you can't fix it! It's not like you really know any of them personally. Don't take their unwilling support of you as a sign that you're friends or something."

"Vee is a Nephil!" I shouted at him. "My best friend is one of the people you would have me throw away? And me Patch, _I'm _a Nephil now, or did you forget that?"

"No one will _ever_ touch you!" Patch's coal black eyes were alight with rage as he practically screamed. "They'd have to get through me first, and believe me, they'd quickly find out how much pain I can inflict when I want.

Patch was becoming unhinged, the protective and territorial sides of him turning him into a monster at the thought of me being forced to swear fealty to any fallen angel. At any other time the sentiment might have been touching, maybe even romantic, but I was too angry for that.

"So that's it then? You're going to fight my battles for eternity and the rest of the Nephils be damned?"

"The Nephils are an abomination and deserve to be enslaved." Patch had lost the slim hold he had had over his emotions. I could almost feel his anger; his body was rigid and his eyes were cold. I probably should have allowed him time to cool down, but I didn't.

"It's good to know how you really feel about me." I said as I left the room and then the house completely.

%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%

An hour later I returned to the condo and found it empty. Nothing had been moved from where we left it this morning, meaning Patch hadn't come back after our fight. I knew he probably left the farmhouse right after me, there was no reason for him to stay. I figured he probably didn't follow me, knowing I would calm down better on my own. He needed time to cool down too, which is why I figured he would have come home; except that he didn't consider this his home. I knew where he was, now my only problem was deciding if I was brave enough to go there.

I took my time changing into sweats and a hoodie. I made a sandwich and slowly cleaned up the dishes, hoping if I wasted enough time, he would just come here and I wouldn't have to go to the studio, but as the sky darkened into evening, I realized if I wanted to see Patch again tonight, I was going to have to drive to Delphic.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

I knew my suspicions were right when I pulled into the parking lot at Delphic and saw patch's truck parked by the gate. I parked next to him and climbed the fence, my heart began to pound louder as I got closer to the shed that led to the tunnels. I hadn't been back here since the night of the fire, and flashes of that night began to cloud my mind. My palms were sweaty and I could feel my pulse in my throat when I arrived at the door. I had to tell myself that he was right on the other side of that door in order to calm myself enough to open it.

The room still smelled of smoke, the scent would be hard to get rid of, since we were underground. I knew that Patch hadn't had a lot of time to come here over the last few days, having spent most of his time with me, but he had cleaned up the broken glass and removed the broken furniture in the living room. I went into the bedroom, noticing some attempt had been made to tidy it as well, but there was still no sign of Patch. My breath caught as I realized he was in the hidden chambers behind the wall and I was going to have to go into the place where I had lived my worst nightmare. I slid the panel open with shaking hands. Luckily the door to the room where the fire had been was closed, and I knew he wasn't in there, because I could sense him farther down the tunnel to my left.

The door to the room he was in was open. He was facing away from me, throwing knives into a dummy. The whole room was filled with gym and training equipment. A large punching bag hung form the ceiling, there were barbells and a mat on the floor as well.

_I thought your strength came naturally_

"Doesn't hurt to practice every once in a while, keep myself sharp." He punctuated the last word with a flick of his wrist, a knife slamming into the heart of the dummy. He was still facing away from me. He finally turned. "All this stuff was Rixon's, I took it from his place." I nodded but didn't read beyond that. He leaned on the wall, arms and legs both crossed, looking expectantly at me. Tears had welled in my eyes, a mixture of anxiety about being here and frustration with Patch. He took a deep breath then crossed the room in two quick strides, gathering me in his arms. I fought to keep the tears form falling. "You okay?"

_I just haven't been since, _I hesitated not wanting to say it, even in mindspeak, _since everything, _ was all I managed to get out.

_You didn't have to come,_ the voice was intended to be soothing, but still held an irritated edge.

_I was looking for you when you didn't come back to the condo, and I figured you must have come here._

He had let go of me and moved back against the wall. "I would have been there eventually."

"Patch!" I yelled, annoyed and hurt that he was still acting like this. I was about to continue when I heard his voice in my head again, calling my name to get my attention. Now it was my turn to glare at him. "What?"

"I need you to l_isten_ to me," his voice was low and deadly. "I will not stand back and let you risk your life for a bunch of traitorous monsters, and I sure as Hell won't help you."

"What's that supposed to mean? Is this some sort of ultimatum, you or them? Because that isn't fair Patch and I won't make that choice."

"No, it isn't an ultimatum. There is no point in helping th-"

"I am them!" I interrupted.

"No, you're not. That's what you're not getting. You aren't one of _them_ and they know it. Do you really think they believed you were going to win that duel? They _knew_ Dante was going to win, that's what they wanted. None of them see you as a Nephil, they saw you as an insignificant human who happens to have Hank's blood running through her. They listened to you because they had to, but _believe _me, they did not want to. That's why we had to be so careful, they would have taken any opportunity to remove you from power and kill you. Nephilim are not nice people, think about it. Have any of the Nephil's you've met been nice?"

"Vee," I mentioned.

"Vee has been your best friend since you were five, and I know that Scott is going to be the next one you are going to mention. Scott did some pretty awful stuff last summer." I had to concede that to him, when Scott had first come back to Coldwater he had tried to kill ne to get Hank's ring back. "I know it's hard to hear," he had calmed and was moving back toward me.

"Do you-"I didn't know how to ask the question on my mind. "How can you be with me, if that's how you feel about Nephilim?"

He held my face between his hands, _Angel,_ the voice in my head sounded pained, as he kissed me hard on the lips, "I love _you_, not what you are or what someone made you. _You_ are still the beautiful intelligent, stubborn girl I fell in love with." He kissed me again, and afterward I leaned my head on his shoulder and started crying.

"I wish this never would have happened.'

He pulled away from me, bracing my arms, "don't ever say that," he said sternly, "had it not happened, we wouldn't be standing here, I wouldn't get to feel you in my arms."

He was staring at me when he said it, before I had a chance to respond, his mouth was in mine again. He held me close to him, making the kiss linger. When he tried to end it, I moved with him, forcing him to continue.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and continued to kiss him, as he led us out of the corridor and into the bedroom.. I landed softly on the bed, Patch's hand behind my head. We stayed there for a while, kissing passionately, neither of us concerned that we were on a broken dirty bed. He took off his shirt and then mine. He kissed his way down my body, spending extra time at the places that caused me to moan in delight, stopping at the waistband of my pants. I pulled his face up to mine and flooded his brain with images of what I wanted him to do, how I wanted him to make me feel. I quickly lost myself in the feelings, not caring about anything but the moment. I gladly lost myself in him.

{}{}{}{}{}{}

We laid there, our bodies tangled in each other and the sheets, my breathing had slowed some, and my head rested on Patch's chest.

_Definitely worth the wait_

I giggled and then sighed happily, agreeing with him. I kissed his chest and then settled in to him, ready to let sleep take over my exhausted body.

_We should probably go before you get too comfortable._

"But I love your bed."

"I know, buts it's broken, and I'm sure it was much better than this before."

I chuckled and rolled my eyes, "can we just stay, and I'm tired?'

He got up and put his jeans back on. Throwing me my shirt he said, "We don't have any clothes or food here, you'll regret that in the morning."

He was right, not having breakfast of clean clothed in the morning would be annoying. I pulled my shirt on and grabbed the pants he was holding out for me. I frowned, "it just feels less special, getting up and leaving right after."

He pulled me to him, his hands resting lightly on my hips,

_Well then, I guess we'll have to do it again._

I could feel the heat in my face, and he added, "And I promise we won't leave that bed until we _both_ decide to.


	13. Chapter 13

**So I was struggling with this chapter, I was 150 words in and gave up and erased the whole thing. But I got a wonderful review from jiyongie last night and it inspired me. I wrote this whole chapter today. I would also like to thank everyone else who has encouraged me to continue, I think I finally know where this story is going. **

I awoke to Patch coming into the room with a tray full of food. I scowled at him, know he must have used a mind trick to keep me asleep while he made the delicious looking pancakes he was now placing in front of me.

_I thought we weren't getting out of bed until we _both _wanted to._

He tried to looked annoyed, but his small smirk gave away his true feelings,

_I would have stayed in bed, but your stomach was rumbling so loudly I was afraid if I didn't feed you soon it was going to attack_

I giggled and had to admit that I was pretty hungry. "Well, I did work up quite an appetite," I said seductively. When Patch leaned in for a kiss though, I shoved a blueberry from my tray into his mouth. The look on his face when he swallowed was hilarious and it took all of my concentration not to laugh. "So I guess blueberries aren't your thing?"

"That was disgusting," he said, taking a strawberry and popping it into his mouth.

I had gotten halfway through my food when I noticed him staring intently at me. "What?" I asked after swallowing my latest bite.

_Angel_

I looked seriously at him, the voice that had come into my head sounded pained.

"I _need _you to be safe."

I put down my fork and moved the tray off my lap. "Where is this coming from?"

"Those guys, yesterday, they were able to just come right in to your Mom's house unnoticed.'

"They were part of Scott's memorial, they were his friends."

"It just has me worried about you."

"I know we have taken care of every threat that has come after me together, and I know that I couldn't have done most of what I've done without your help, but I can defend myself now. You don't need to worry so much." I left out the part about me being Nephilim now, I didn't need to continue yesterday's fight.

"They're not going to give up."

I really didn't want this to turn into another argument, so I took a deep breath and calmly said, "I heard you yesterday, I'm not going to do anything."

"That doesn't mean they won't." He was clenching his fists and I could see the slowly building rage in his face.

"Patch," I grabbed one of his hands and entwined our fingers. "I'll be fine, I'm immortal now, they can't kill me."

"They can still _hurt_ you." He spat through clenched teeth.

"They can hurt _you_ too Patch and that scares me, but we can't live our lives in fear of people who might be able to hurt us."

"If anyone touches you…" I could see the anger burning in his eyes.

"**Patch,"** I yelled, drawing his eyes to mine. "I can take care of myself." I hoped he could tell by my tone that this discussion was over. "I'm going to go take a shower. Why don't you go take a walk or something, to clear your head?" I said on my way to the bathroom.

Patch was sitting on the couch with his laptop open when I came into the living room. He quickly closed it when he saw me. "What were…?" I started, but the look on his face told me to drop it.

"I think you need a new car," he announced like there wasn't a huge elephant hanging in the air above us. Before I could even voice my protests he added, "I know that Scott gave you that car and that it means a lot you, so you don't have to get rid of it, but it barely runs and it's not reliable."

I could tell by his uncharacteristic rant that this was his version of a compromise, something that he was not at all used to doing, and if getting a new car was going to end this fight about my safety then I should probably just agree. "Okay. Why don't you go take a shower and then we can go to a dealership or something, unless you already have a car waiting somewhere that you _won _in a poker game or something." He just smirked and shook his head as he made his way back to the bathroom.

As soon as I heard the shower I grabbed the laptop and opened it. I needed to know what he was looking at. "Damn it," I should have known he would have it password protected. I started trying everything I could think of that he would use as a password. Ten tries later, I put in my birthday and the screen came to life. _Really Patch?_ I thought, it was too simple.

_ I knew you'd look_

I turned to see Patch putting on his belt, his shirt thrown over one shoulder. My ears burned at having been caught snooping, but I did have a chance to see what he was looking at: security systems, and not your average ADT home system either. These were heavy duty government quality. It hit me all of a sudden, what he didn't want to tell me, "You don't feel safe here?" I asked, though that answer was pretty clear.

"Too many people have been here." He said, "and it's not that I don't trust your Mom or Vee to keep a secret, but if they were tortured…"

"You really think those guys want to find me so badly they'd torture my mom and best friend to find me?" He didn't have to tell me the answer, the tension in his posture was all the answer I needed to know that he believed it.

"I'm going to get one for the farmhouse, and one for where ever we move to… we're not staying here." He yelled, noticing the look on my face. "Blakely got in here the other night!"

He had a point, "where do you want to go?"

"As far away from Coldwater as possible, but I know you're not ready to leave yet, so for the time being I'm looking into the places that have on site security guards."

I stopped and thought for a minute, I wanted Patch to feel comfortable. He had done and would continue to do whatever he could to make me happy, even if it went against everything he stood for. I needed to do the same thing for him. "We could go back to Delphic. Since all of the other fallen angels are gone it will just be us. I know you don't like having people there, but I already have been, and I wont tell anyone where it is, not even Mom or Vee."

"I thought you didn't like being there, since the fire."

"Last night kind of changed that." I blushed at the thought. "We can make more good memories there." I got up and made my way to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and kissing him softly. "Let's go get it cleaned up."

It was late in the evening by the time we were done cleaning. The couch was beyond repair and we hauled it up to the amusement parks dumpster, hoping no one would notice it there, since it was closed for the season. Patch used some of the wood form other broken things to make the bed stable enough to sleep in for the night. He was going to get a new one Monday, and the mattress was still usable. We used the sheets form the bed in the condo, they would have to work until the new silk ones arrived. "Why did you only have one set of sheets?" I whined, not tired enough to notice that I didn't like these as well.

"I rarely used the bed. It's not like I brought random women back here. And Chauncey's place was perfectly fine to use during Cheshvan."

We were both under the covers, our noses touching. I yawned and sighed, "I know this wasn't your plan for our first weekend together."

He kissed my forehead, "we'll do something fun next weekend."


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry about the long wait, my time and inspiration were waning this week. The good news is the next chapter is starting to come together.**

**I played pretty fast and loose with history here.**

Chapter _

Sunday evening we made our way back to the farmhouse. I had gotten a text from my mom on the way saying that she was out with a friend and would be home in a couple of hours. It seemed weird to be coming back here like this on a Sunday night. It had been months since Patch dropped me off after a date, and rarely did he walk me to the door. We generally spent what little time we had before Mom flashed the porch light in the darkness of the Jeep exploring each others bodies. Now Patch followed me into the house and up to my bedroom where he dropped his bag on my bed. "There's room in the closet. Since you're going to be here a lot, you probably don't want to keep your stuff in a duffel bag."

As he hung his clothes up I grabbed my anatomy book, I had a little more I had to get done before I went back to school in the morning. He came out of the closet holding the slinky, red dress I was supposed to wear for Homecoming, "it's a shame I never got to see you in this. Maybe I'll have to find a reason for you to wear it." I blushed, and tried to cover it up by rolling my eyes and stomping out of the room.

Half an hour later we were stretched put on the couch, me with my homework and Patch with his laptop, when my mom came in the door with a flourish. She looked flushed and frenzied and headed straight for the kitchen. Patch shot me a confused look over his laptop, I just shrugged, not knowing where my mother's odd behavior came from.

_Ya know, I could help you learn about anatomy in a much more fun way._

Patch had leaned up to kiss me, a wicked look in his eyes as he spoke to my thoughts.

"Mmmm," I breathed into the kiss, "please tell me everything you know about the Limbic system." He just took the book from my hands and deepened the kiss. It wasn't long before we were interrupted by an irritated clearing of the throat.

"Dinner," Mom said turning and going back into the kitchen. She didn't mention what she had walked in on, and I said nothing in return.

Dinner was becoming a quiet and awkward affair. "I have to go out of town on Tuesday, I don't expect you to stay here without me. Just make sure you are going to school and staying caught up." Her speech was clipped and cold.

"What?" I finally asked, unable to tolerate her attitude anymore. Her eyes flicked up from her plate, but she otherwise made no attempt to acknowledge my question. "You've been weird since you got home."

She put her silverware down and looked at me, "my best friend just buried her teenaged son, figuratively of course, since there was no body. She is in so much pain, has so many questions. I have answers to those questions, but to protect my own child I can't tell her. I didn't make things any easier that you two are carrying on like nothing matters but yourselves."

Her words made my veins fill with ice. "Do you have any how much grief I've been through in the last year? This all started when Dad died, trying to save _Hank Millar_." I leveled my stare at her. "Do you know how many people have tried to kill _me_ recently? Hank wanted to, would have if it hadn't been for a blood oath. He settled for isolating and torturing me for months, then erasing my memory." There was shame in my mom's expression now, knowing that while he was torturing me, he was comforting and romancing her. I got up and left the table, having made my point, and raced up the stairs to my room. I could just barely hear Patch and my mom talking downstairs.

"Blythe," she obviously didn't want to hear what he was saying.

"I just wonder how things would have been different if we would have stayed together, if we never would have brought Harrison into this."

"He'd be alive, as would Hank, but Nora and probably you wouldn't be."

"He loved me, and Nora, he wouldn't have done what he did to protect her if he didn't."

"That wasn't love, it was spite. Rixon probably tried to kill her much earlier, had he not wanted her sacrifice. Hank used a female Nephilim as bait to seduce both Rixon and I, she was introduced to us two weeks before Cheshvan, and let the secret _slip_ of how a fallen angel could become human while we were in bed. I'm assuming it was similar with Rixon. Nora would have been about four at the time, and we had just come back to Coldwater, I didn't know why. He was looking for Hank, and ways to hurt him."

"I'm not seeing how this proves that Hank didn't love us."

"He knew that we would look into it, which meant that we were distracted by his activities as much, and buying himself twelve years to build up his army, by the time that Nora turned sixteen he was so entrenched in Devilcraft that he would have welcomed Nora's death. It would have released him from his annual two week enslavement."

"But he…loved me…us…he told me." My mom was obviously starting to fall apart.

Something stopped her, presumably Patch. "Hank was incapable of love. Centuries of being Rixon's vassal made him hateful and cold. He would have snapped Nora's neck right in front of me, for causing Chauncey's death. Not because he cared more about Chauncey than her, he didn't care about either. His death interfered with Hank's plans and the responsible person needed to be held accountable; simple, cold logic." There was a long pause, and I was tempted to go downstairs and see what was happening, but I thought this time together might be good for them. "You need to get over the notion that I'm the worst thing that ever happened to her. Chauncey may not have come after her if not for her involvement with me, but Rixon and Hank would have still been around." I heard footsteps and then the front door slamming, I knew it had had to have been Patch who left, and I was pretty sure he would come back after he cooled down, but I had no desire to deal with my mom right now.

I was just finishing my homework and was getting ready to call Patch when my bedroom door creaked open. "I didn't know if you'd be asleep yet." Patch said softly, creeping into the room and sliding onto the bed.

"I was waiting for you. Why are you acting like you're sneaking in?"

"Don't want to deal with your mom right now, she's not very happy with me." He said removing his shirt and belt, readying himself for bed.

"She deserved it." I said. "She can't seem to understand that Hank is responsible for all of this, and that she made a mistake falling for him." He was in just his boxers now, and crawled into bed next to me. "I just hope she was being honest with me when she said that while my Dad was alive, nothing was going on between her and Hank." I rolled over into his body, breathing his scent in deeply, as his arms enveloped me in warmth and security.

He kissed the top of my head and muttered, "This bed really does suck." I tried to chuckle as I drifted off to sleep.

**I'm really tired of Blythe's attitude, granted I created it, but still!**


	15. Chapter 15

**So when I wrote this close to a month ago, sorry work has been C-R-A-Z-Y, I had just reread the prologue to _Silence_, and I really like this chapter. But while I was typing it, I had to take some things out, I had given Dagger a scar, but realized that Nephil's don't scar so I had to change it and it kinda bummed me out and I feel like the chapter lost something. Anyway, I'm not really happy with this, but i wanted to give you all something since you've been waiting of so long. Also, this hasn't been edited because i just wanted to get it done.  
**

**Patch POV**

The evenness of Nora's breathing was relaxing against my chest, the soft floral scent of her hair was soothing me into a deep sleep.

I'm dreaming, I know I am dreaming, but something is off. I can't quite figure out what yet. The room is dark, too dark to be natural. A voice in the distance, thick with a European accent. For some reason I can't sense him.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Blackhand. I understand. Nuthin' but water for two days. Oh, I hope like Hell she begs, makes it more fun. I'll let her know it's his fault."

The Blackhand, obviously we're dealing with Hank's men. Then it hits me, this is Nora's dream, or memory more likely. I call for her and het no answer, then I try mindspeak.

_Angel_, I prod, _it's me, wake up_. Nothing; a memory then. I just have to wake up, then I will be out, and I can get her out after.

The clinking of a bolt sounds to my side, a small stream of light comes in through what must be a slot in the door. Immediately I scan the room for her. Nora is curled on the hard floor, a dirty towel underneath her. Her back is to the door, so she can feign sleep, but from where I am positioned she is staring right at me, through me. She is filthy, and her clothes, the same ones she was wearing at Delphic the night Hank took her, are torn. She has a myriad of cuts and bruises, all in different stages of healing. It made my stomach turn to see her this way, and I fought harder to wake her from this dream.

Part of a face, just an eye really, comes into view in the slot. "Morning Princess," his accent was thick; Bulgarian and I recognized it as that of a Nephil who worked at the amusement park. Everyone called him Dagger, homage to the weapon he chose to fight with most of the time. In the 1600's when the weapon was en vogue his name had been Bogomil. Rumor was that he had sworn fealty in a prison on his sixteenth birthday, having been put there at just fourteen after killing his entire family. The angel promised him escape in return for his servitude. Dagger would have probably risen higher in the ranks of Hank's army, due to his ruthlessness and brutality, had he been sane and reliable. The idea that he had been with Nora for any amount of time made me wish I could torture Hank all over again. "Daddy wants you to have a message," he patronized Nora, "because your _loverboy_ isn't cooperating you get nuthin' but water for the next two days." Dagger laughed before adding, "I hope he's worth it." The rage that had built up inside of me was finally enough to wake me. Nora was still fighting her way to consciousness, trembling in my arms.

_Angel, _I drove as far as I could into her brain, _it's just a dream, you're okay. Come back to me._ Her eyes fluttered open and immediately filled with tears, her heart was pounding and she was still trembling. "Hey, hey calm down, it's over." She was clawing at me, trying to escape the torture she knew would come next. "Angel, please, he can't hurt you. I'm right here." She finally calms and orients herself to the surroundings of her bedroom. "Angel?" I question, hesitantly.

"Patch," she choked out, disbelief evident in her voice. She took a deep breath. "I..I had a nightmare."

"I know, I was there."

Her eyes were wide and scared. "It really happened," it sounded more like a question that a statement. "I remember that room, Hank kept me there all that time." I sat up and pulled her into me. "That guy said it was your fault?"

"It was, and I'm sorry." She looked at me, confusion and pain on her face. "I was supposed to be spying on the fallen angels and reporting to him. But all I had been doing was trying to find you. He knew that the only thing that would motivate me to do what he wanted was to hurt you. I'm so sorry. I was trying to get you back, that was my only goal."

"I know. I don't blame you, Patch. I know what you did to him that night too." She said with a look of clarity on her face, she was finally starting to remember everything he erased. "He came to, wherever it was that they were holding me, making threats and yelling at me. I could tell something bad had happened to him, he wasn't completely healed. He noticed me staring and told me that you had attacked him. I was so proud of you and filled with hope that I couldn't hide the smile that spread across my face. He slapped me until I fell down and then told me that I would start paying for your mistakes."

Her final words were like a punch in the gut, and my hatred for Hank grew even more, which I wouldn't have thought possible. Immediately I grabbed her face and kissed her forehead.

_I'm so sorry,_ I sent to her mind as I moved to press my lips lightly on her eyelids, _I'm so sorry I let him hurt you. _I moved to her cheeks and finally her lips. _ I will never let anyone hurt you again._

She kept her eyes closed and nuzzled into my chest. "I love you," she whispered, her fingers tracing my body slowly. The feeling of her pressed against me, her hands on my skin, sent and aching need throughout my entire body.

It was begging to _show_ her how sorry I was and how much I love her, but Blythe was just down the hall and Nora needed to be well rested to return to school tomorrow, so I reluctantly moved her hand and entwined it with mine, kissing her ear as I whispered, "sleep now, Angel. I'm right here."


End file.
